Starý Smokovec railway station

Railway station in Starý Smokovec, Slovakia

Starý Smokovec

Location within Slovakia

Starý Smokovec railway station (Slovak: Železničná stanica Starý Smokovec) is a junction station in the High Tatras. It serves the ski, tourist and health resort of Starý Smokovec, in the Prešov Region, northeastern Slovakia.

Opened in 1908, the station is the focal point of the metre gauge Tatra Electric Railway (TEŽ). It forms the junction between the TEŽ's Poprad-Tatry–Štrbské Pleso main line and its only other line, the Starý Smokovec–Tatranská Lomnica branch.

The station is currently owned by Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR); train services are operated by Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK).

Location

Starý Smokovec railway station is right in the heart of Starý Smokovec, which forms part of the town of Vysoké Tatry, a conglomerate of separate and different settlements (originally separate villages). The only common feature of the Vysoké Tatry settlements is that they are the main tourist resorts in the Slovak High Tatras, connected through a common railway network, the TEŽ. After the country's capital, Vysoké Tatry is Slovakia's major tourist destination.

History

The station was opened on 17 December 1908 (1908-12-17), together with the rest of the TEŽ's 19.4 km (12.1 mi) first stage, between Poprad-Tatry and Starý Smokovec.^[1]

On 16 December 1911, Starý Smokovec became a temporary switchback station, with the opening of the 6 km (3.7 mi) branch between Starý Smokovec and Tatranská Lomnica.^[1]

The station was finally transformed into a junction station on 13 August 1912, when the rest of the TEŽ's main line was completed between Starý Smokovec and Štrbské Pleso.^[1]

Facilities

The station building is an attractive three-storey building of half timbered design. It houses information and ticketing facilities, and a restaurant.

Train services

Starý Smokovec railway station is the junction of the following High Tatras railway lines:

Line 183: Poprad-Tatry–Štrbské Pleso (the TEŽ's main line)
Line 184: Starý Smokovec–Tatranská Lomnica

Interchange

The station offers interchange with local buses.

Services

Preceding station		ŽSSK		Following station
Nový Smokovec toward Štrbské Pleso		Stopping trains Tatra Electric Railway		Dolný Smokovec toward Poprad-Tatry
Terminus		Stopping trains Tatra Electric Railway		Pekná Vyhliadka toward Tatranská Lomnica